Netphener omnibus company
The Netphener Omnibusgesellschaft operated the first bus line in the world with a gasoline engine-powered vehicle, after steam buses had previously operated. The vehicle drove for the first time on March 18, 1895 from Siegen via Weidenau and Netphen to the then still independent municipality of Deuz , which today belongs to Netphen.
The stock corporation , which according to today's law would run as a GmbH , replaced the horse-drawn buses that ran between Siegen and Deuz with a gasoline-powered bus. A vehicle from the Benz company from Carl Benz in Mannheim was used , which was purchased for 5,000 gold marks . The car was 2.00 meters wide and 3.50 meters long, equipped with glazed windows and already had heating . The plan was to carry six people, there was space for eight, and there was space for another two people in the driver's cab . Apart from the driver, a total of ten people could be transported in the bus. At the rear and on the roof of the bus there were stowage spaces for luggage. The operation took place between 6:45 am and 8:55 pm. The bus took around an hour and 20 minutes to cover the 15-kilometer route, resulting in an average speed of around 11 km / h. The transport cost the equivalent of four to five pfennigs per kilometer.
The trips did not go smoothly. There were two inclines in the course of the route that turned out to be too steep for the bus engine. It often happened that the passengers had to get off at these points in order to push the bus. Encounters with the stagecoaches operating there were also problematic. It was reported by eyewitnesses that the driver had difficulty keeping the horses on the way. The solid rubber tires used posed a further problem . As these repeatedly jumped off the rim and this problem could not be dealt with, the tried and tested iron tires on the stagecoach were used.
On July 1, 1895, the company acquired a second car in order to be able to counter operational disruptions effectively. By this time, 10,600 people had been transported and 3,100 marks had been raised. On December 20, 1895, the buses had to cease operations and the horse-drawn buses were used again. These operated on the route until 1906. Then the Kleinbahn Weidenau – Deuz went into operation and ensured a better and more reliable connection to and from Deuz.
A replica of this bus is owned by the Deuz-based company Irle ; it has been exhibited in Deuz in front of the old station building in a specially constructed glass pavilion since November 8, 2016.
See also
- Dessau motor vehicle traffic (1893–1894)
literature
- Wolfgang H. Gebhardt: German omnibuses since 1895 . Motorbuch Verlag 2002, ISBN 3-613-02140-4 .